Trendy Not Good for Branding?

Posted on June 6, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

A recent study done in both the US and France yielded some interesting information regarding the staying power of brands.

The study focused on popularity and discovered the faster things become popular, they become unpopular just as quickly. This is counterintuitive, in that one would assume fast-growing, trendy brands would have more staying power. They do not.

The study analyzed thousands of baby names from the past 100 years in France and the US. (Because there is less of an influence of technology or advertising on name choice, baby names provide a way to study how adoption depends on primarily internal factors.) The researchers found a consistent symmetry in the rise and fall of individual names; in other words, the longer it took for a name to become popular, the longer it took for the name to fade out of popularity, and thus the more staying power it had compared to names that quickly rose and fell. The effect was robust, occurring in both countries and across various time windows.

This would suggest that brands that grow rapidly are also likely to lose popularity just as quickly. Brands that grow more slowly have more staying power. Controlled, managed growth is generally preferable to rapid, trendy growth, if you are building a brand for the long term. Rapid, short-term, brand growth should be viewed as an opportunity to "make hay while the sun shines" with little expectation of sustained long-term sales, and then be prepared to move on to something else.

The study focused on baby names, which were isolated from any marketing efforts. The logical question one must ask is would marketing/advertising have an impact on sustaining the growth of trendy brands? I think the answer to that question is indeed yes, but the study would suggest the possibility, at least, that more marketing dollars might be needed to sustain the sales over the long haul in cases where brands experienced meteoric rises. And while marketing/advertising can help sustain the growth and/or slow the decline, it may not be able to stop it. I can think of several brands in the beverage alcohol category that after rapid sales growth periods suffered declining sales even in the face of heavy marketing spends, like the malt and wine-based coolers of yesteryear for example. And we must also recall double-knit fabrics and leisure suits, which we all want to forget.

"Trendy" has certain negative connotations that come right after the positives. Everyone wants to be "early adopters" of a new trend, but once it is popular it becomes "establishment", to use a seventies term, and the trend setters want nothing more to do with it.

The learning for brand owners is to be aware of this and plan accordingly: enjoy the ride or be prepared to spend to keep the brand going. And lastly, in the words of the famous song, "You gotta know when to fold 'em."

Twitter and Packaging

Posted on June 11, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

The question has been asked over on Twitter under #Packaging as who would be the first to use a Twitter link on their package either supplementing a web site link or in place of one?

Looks like Pepsi may be the winner of that race.

Clearly Social Media (SM), especially sites like Twitter, LinkedIN, YouTube, and FaceBook, to name only a few, are becoming the "new media" of marketing and advertising, and if you have a product or service to sell you had better be looking into this new media or get left behind by your competition who is.

The Package Design Process, Part 6

Posted on June 23, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Once the design gets to a final production stage, all responsible and concerned parties must review and sign-off on the approved solution and proof. This includes the client’s departments such as marketing, sales, legal, production, shipping, compliance, and management, plus any government agencies that require input or approval.

Once approved, files are prepped for production. This means the designer gathers all the elements of the design and completely reviews every element to be sure all is in place and correct. The digital files may need conversion to another format or modification to accommodate production expectations.

Ideally the creative process does not stop at the last approval step. The agency creative team should be involved through the production process to insure compliance with the approved design. At the very least the agency design team should be allowed to help select production vendors and review any vendor supplied proofs and advise the client of any discrepancies. I have seen too many disasters when the agency design team is excluded from this step.

This may also involve one or more senior members of the from the agency attending various pre-production and production activities as observers and consultants. In all cases a client representative should be present to perform active sign-off duties based on consultations with production experts and the agency design team member. At SPAR we do not accept sign-off responsibilities without active on-scene participation by a client representative with sign-off authority. Usually this should be a brand manager. We will consult and advise, but the client must ultimately make the decision concerning any on-press changes or adjustments. Clients are often reluctant to pay the expenses for an agency design team member to be present at out of town production sessions. This is often results in unsatisfactory printing executions and production delays, and is generally a false economy when the job gets pulled from the press to be taken back to the designers for consultation.

Done properly, with responsible and experienced people from both the agency side and the client side, both parties generally walk away completely satisfied with the end product.

The Package Design Process, Part 7

Posted on June 29, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

OK, so what did you get for your money?

What should result from all this is a design that was specifically and carefully created by a team of experienced professionals. The finished design was arrived at through a process that is structured to deliver a solution that should meet the objectives set forth for it. The resulting product is, therefore, much more likely to deliver what is expected of it.

Active involvement in the design process by team members on the client side is desirable but within a context. Someone once said, “A camel is a race horse designed by a committee.” I have seen too many designs start out as a racehorse and end up a camel or even a warthog. The reason for that is the wrong people had creative input or sign-off authority. I believe production should have authority over production related issues and not aesthetics. Sales needs to be aware of issues in the design that might make his job more difficult, and not aesthetics unless they somehow impact the sales efforts. Even upper management must exercise extreme caution in making decisions concerning the design. Very often they are not even in the demographic for the product. The aesthetics of the design, the art part, should be the domain of the designers and marketing, and should always be considered in the light of does it meet the objectives? Does it appeal to the target demo? "Do I LIKE it?", which is a purely subjective point of view, especially if the person is not in the target demo, should not be a significant deciding factor in most cases.

You can always buy something for less, sometimes a lot less, but the buyer must be careful that he gets what he needs, otherwise money spent on a product that is poorly designed to meet its objectives is no bargain; in fact it may actually cost the brand many times more than was saved. Clients like to design vicariously. That is, they can’t design for themselves because they don’t have the talent, training, or experience, but they “know what they like” and can design through someone else. If that is your attitude, you don’t need to pay good money for experienced design professionals. Just hire your niece or nephew who is a freshman design student, buy her or him about $8,000 worth of Mac computer, printers, and software and do the designs through them.

This is not to say freshmen design students can't be very talented people - many are. But talent or even talent + training usually are not enough. An understanding of consumer psychology and both the package production process and the clients equipment, along with years of package design experience are also needed for a successful design solution.

Put the right combination of these elements together in a design team with a managed disciplined process and success is far more likely.

The Clamshell Package

Posted on June 29, 2009 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

Is the clamshell package the victim of bad PR and poor marketing? That is what Sterling Anthony thinks in his article on the package that everyone loves to hate.

Mr. Anthony points out that both cans and wine bottles require special tools to open them, but that was obvious to the consumer. The failure of the clamshell packer is they expected consumers to figure out that scissors would have solved the problem. Now of course there are special tools available for opening clamshells, and they come in - what else? - a clamshell.

He argues that the clamshell deserves its place in the market because it displays the product well and reduces pilferage and thus results in cost savings for the consumer.